LAUNCHING 4G: (From left) Malaysian Communications and Multimedia
Commission deputy director (Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan) Aaron
Tan, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture Malaysia deputy
secretary general of communications Che Azemi Haron, Salang, Lai and P1
vice president and head of regulatory Md Radzi Din are seen at the official
launch of P1 broadband in Sabah.

“We want Malaysia to quickly reach broadband penetration levels enjoyed by developed nations and will heed to the country’s call for strong private sector participation to achieve this.

“We also believe there is a pent-up demand for high performance and affordable high speed broadband in Sabah which our 4G services can fulfill,” he added.

P1 services are powered by 4G wireless technology, said to be a more efficient ‘data highway’ when compared to either conventional copper wire asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) or 3G.

P1’s product range includes fixed-access home broadband with fixed phone service and on-the-go broadband for both consumers and businesses.

Salang added, “It is the government’s target to further raise household broadband penetration to 75 per cent by 2015 and to address the digital divide between urban and rural areas.

“I am confident that we can achieve and even surpass this target with the key initiatives that the government has put in place and with the support by the private sector.” P1 would continue to cover more areas in Kota Kinabalu, followed by Sandakan and Tawau. The company would also be introducing their cutting-edge 4G services to Kuching by year-end.

KUDAT: The Works Ministry has allocated more than one billion ringgit to improve and upgrade three main roads covering 132.7km in Sabah.

Minister Datuk Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor said the projects, to be implemented at the end of the year, involved upgrading the Donggongon road to Papar Spur junction, which stretches 42km, at a cost of RM600 million.

Also in the plan is the upgrading of the 9.2km Kota Kinabalu-Sindumin road at a cost of RM2.18 million.

Lastly, the 81.5km Tawau-Semporna road will be upgraded from two to four lanes at a cost of RM430 million.

"Sabah deserves to get such allocation as it is the second biggest state in the country," he told reporters after opening the Umno Kudat delegates meeting at Dewan Tun Mustapha here yesterday. Bernama

KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is hosting the first ever International Workshop on Advances in Biofuels (IWABF2012) here for two days beginning September 26.

Prof Dr Pogaku Ravindra, from UMS’ School of Engineering and Information Technology, said the workshop would look at both recent trends and the outlook for the future in terms of potential biofuels production.

He said it would also examine the benefits, Biofuels’ costs and policy issues to replace petroleum fuel.

“It takes an international perspective, assessing regional similarities and differences and recent activities around the world,” he told Bernama.

Pogaku said the distinguished delegates and eminent speakers from different countries would attend the workshop.

“The salient feature is the panel discussion involving councillors from 10 countries who can play proactive role in establishing network in the field of biofuels among their respective countries,” he said.

Pogaku said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman was expected to open the gathering.

UMS’ Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah and the Dean of the School of Engineering and Information Technology and IWABF2012 chairperon, Assoc Prof Dr Rosalam Sarbatly, would attend the workshop along with other important personalities from the UMS, federal and state governments.

On biofuels’ potential, Pogaku said Biofuels might be easier to commercialise than other alternative fuels, considering performance, infrastructures and other factors.

“Biofuels have the potential to leapfrog traditional barriers to entry because they are liquid fuels, largely compatible with current vehicles and blend-able with current fuels.

“In fact, low-percentage ethanol blends such as E10 (10 per cent ethanol by volume) are already dispensed in many service stations worldwide, with almost no incompatibility with materials and equipment,” he said.

He said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has initiated application of biofuels in a big way.

It was just one of the many renewable energies NASA studied, he said.

Pogaku also said biofuels could be used in today’s vehicles to reduce global petroleum consumption by 10 per cent or more. — Bernama

In the O&G sector for example, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) plans to invest around RM45 billion in the upstream and downstream activities, following the discovery of new gas fields offshore.

The federal government is spending several billion ringgit on infrastructure development and tourism, he added.

Megat Najmuddin - who sits on the board of Petronas, Dialog Group Bhd, Formis Resources Bhd, Tradewinds Corp Bhd and MajuPerak Holdings Bhd is bullish that the local economy will continue to be strong, attracting local and foreign investors.

"Despite being in backwaters, Sabah's gross domestic product (GDP) for the worst two years of the global crises in 2008 and 2009 has been strong, at 7.7 per cent and 3.3 per cent.

"Going forward, the state's GDP is projected to be above seven per cent per annum for the next few years," he said on Tuesday, after the launch of Imago, a retail mall project in Kota Kinabalu by Asian Pac Holdings Bhd.

Megat Najmuddin, who is chairman of Asian Pac, said investors can no longer ignore Sabah.

He added that well-planned developments will also be sought after as the Sabahans now have higher disposable income.

Imago is part of Phase 2 of the on-going KK Times Square project by Asian Pac, its flagship integrated development in Kota Kinabalu.

Phase 2 includes The Loft Residences, comprising 631 units of serviced apartments. So far, Asian Pac has launched 531 units and 65-70 per cent have been sold.

The company will be launching the final 100 units next month, ranging between RM700,000 and RM2.5 million.

KK Times Square, which is being developed at a cost of RM565 million comprising 12 blocks of 5-8 storey signature offices, was first built in 2007.

Megat Najmuddin said the price for the signature offices had gone up steadily in the last five years.

SEMPORNA: The Sabah Seaweed Cluster Project launched here yesterday will be part of a high-impact sector by 2020, said Agricuture and Agro-based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar.

He said based on the plans for the National Key Economic Area (NKEA) project, the seaweed industry in Sabah, especially in Semporna which has been recognised as a national seaweed producing district, will be transformed into an important national industry.

“We want to make it a high-impact programme, and although it was previously carried out traditionally on a small scale, today we are planning on a value chain not just in the technology of production but also upstream products.

“Seaweed can be processed into beauty care ingredients, our plan is not just to help fishermen, but we must also have a seaweed processing plant and a national research institute,” he told reporters after launching the project here yesterday together with a show to promote the biennial Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture & Agrotourism (MAHA) exposition.

“This project is a vertical integration in nature including hatchery, production, feed and processing, and this will be part of 15,000ha to be gazetted as a Lobster Aquaculture Zone and regulated by the Sabah Fisheries Department,” he told reporters after meeting Darden Aquafarm Inc president Bill Herzig at Sri Gaya near here yesterday.

Musa, who is also State Finance Minister, said the iLAP would comprise the core entity, small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) and contract farming.
The project is expected to generate 12,000 job opportunities when fully completed by 2020, and locals can participate as contract farmers or as entrepreneurs through a buy-back scheme, he said.

Welcoming this cooperation to develop the aquaculture industry in the state, Musa said the industry has promise for greater growth in Sabah.

“To further tap this industry, we must collaborate with the right people who have the experience and technological know-how,” he said, adding the project fitted in with what the state government was looking for in terms of joint ventures with foreign companies.

“Not only are we attracting foreign direct investments through this project, but we are also creating job opportunities for locals and create economic spin-offs in Semporna.

“What is even more significant is that locals are allowed to participate directly in the project through contract farming or through buy-back schemes,” he added.

The Chief Minister urged the players in the project to work closely with the locals to ensure that everyone involved would benefit.

Meanwhile, Herzig hoped that the iLAP would become a commercial lobster grow-out project which can supply the Asian market in the future.

“We also hope that the iLAP would eventually help ensure a steady supply of lobsters which are ‘natives of Borneo’ for our restaurants as well as for the world market.

“At the moment we have almost 2,000 restaurants in North America (the US and Canada),” he said.

Sales of lobsters from the project are expected to reach RM3 billion by 2025. Darden Inc, located in Orlando, Florida, is the world’s biggest chain of full-service restaurants, with an annual sale of US$7.2 billion and some 180,000 workers. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: Darden Aquasciences Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of US-based Darden Restaurants Inc, will pump in some US$300mil (RM1bil) to join forces with two Malaysian companies to develop the world's first integrated lobster aquaculture park, or iLAP, in Sabah under a US$600mil (RM1.86bil) deal.

In a project supported by Invest KL, Malaysian Investment Development Authority, Biotech Corp and Yayasan Sabah, 40 million pounds of lobster are expected to be produced annually once it reaches full capacity, with projected annual sales of RM3bil by 2029. All lobster output produced will be taken up by Darden.

The tropical spiny lobster, also known as the King Lobster' will be the breed of lobster that is bred in Sabah.

Presently, iLAP will have a sea space of 9,300 ha, supported by three lobster hatcheries. It will create 14,000 jobs by 2022, in line with the Economic Transformation Program.

Jobs created include a wide specturm of skills ranging from PhD and Masters level scientists and engineers, to aquaculture specialists and skilled aquaculture technicians. iLAP will also partner Malaysian universities, TalentCorp and other government entities to develop talent.

“The first stage of commercial hatchery will begin in June 2013 while the first batch of lobsters for commercial consumption is anticipated to be ready by June 2015. The iLAP project will start to see significant production in eight years time,” said Darden Aquafarm Inc President Bill Herzig

Darden will also make Malaysia its hub in Asia-Pacific, and intends to eventually introduce its chain of restaurants such Red Lobster here. It plans to establish a regional operations hub in the country to assist with potential future restaurant growth in the Asian market.

“We definitely see lots of potential in this part of the world. We are looking to expand in Asia Pacific and bring in some of our brands here.

“We'll probably start in Malaysia. Right now we are mostly in North America, but we have also started to have a presence in the Middle East and Mexico,” said Darden Inc chairman and chief executive officer Clarence Ortis Jr.

Ortis added that the global demand for seafood was increasing, particularly for shrimp, fin fishes and lobsters.

Darden International president Kim Lopdrup said that should it introduce its restaurants in Malaysia, it will most probably be halal' certified with some 10% of the menu consisting of local food.

“However for consistency purposes there will still be a high degree of standardization with our chain of restaurants in the United States,” said Lopdrup.

PETALING JAYA: France's Club Mediterranee, which operates the Club Med resort chain worldwide, is assessing opportunities to expand into Sabah and Sarawak.

The Paris-listed group, which has 80 properties in its portfolio, has owned and operated Club Med Cherating in Kuantan, Pahang, since 1979.

Malaysia was the group's first stop in Asia Pacific, as part of its global expansion plan.

Sprawled within an 80ha enclave, Club Med Cherating is also the largest resort under the "Club Med" banner in Asia Pacific, by land size.

Its country sales and marketing manager for Malaysia, Steven Tan, said the group is mulling setting up a replica of Club Med Cherating in Sabah.

"It is always in our discussion to expand in Malaysia. Tourism is great here. We love to have more resorts in our portfolio as we move along," Tan told Business Times in an interview recently.

Club Med Cherating has 297 traditionally-designed Malay kampung-style rooms in 15 three-storey buildings built on stilts. The structures are all made of teak.

Each room is selling from RM620 per person a night, which includes accommodation, three meals, snacking and free flow of alcohol and non-alcohol beverages and entertainment.

According to Tan, more than RM100 million has been invested in the development of Club Med Cherating since its opening.

Tan said despite the global financial turmoil, the resort has been achieving revenues of around RM40 million to RM45 million per annum.

The resort has around 25,000 active members, made up mostly of locals. To be a member (coupled with insurance coverage), one has to pay only RM95 for the first year and RM65 for year-on-year renewal.

"Revenue has been increasing steadily over the past few years. Last year was a challenge because of the global economic crisis. Prices of goods and services had eroded. It is a challenge faced by any business.

"But things have improved now. We see more families and honeymooners staying at our place."

In 2004, when there was turmoil in the global market, the resort went through a RM30 million overhaul, which has helped to increase its occupancy rates from 50 per cent to between 60 per cent and 65 per cent.

University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students took the initiative to clean up the beach. They spent three hours picking up rubbish along the bay in Likas, near here.

Besides the students, 30 other volunteers, comprising locals and foreigners, also took part in the initiative.

UMS student Wong Jiunn Yi said the beach appeared abandoned, with no facilities and littered with rubbish.

He said it was important to keep the beach clean as people may prefer to have a picnic or go for a walk there.

"There are many vehicles that pass by Tanjung Lipat daily while on the way to 1Borneo Hypermall, Indah Permai, King Fisher, Sulaman and UMS. If the beach is dirty, it will give Kota Kinabalu a bad image."

For information about the volunteers' activities, visit their Facebook page at Kota Kinabalu Volunteers.

KOTA KINABALU: The lucrative tourism industry continues to be one of Sabah’s major income earners as Sabah increased its target arrivals by 1.1 per cent totaling 2.875 million visitors compared to 2011.

This was an estimated RM5.178 billion revenue earned, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment reported yesterday.

“The industry has proven to be resilient, rising from turbulent times and gaining strength from adversity from the beginning of 2012 with challenges faced especially on flight uncertainty,” said its minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun.

International arrivals recorded an overall positive growth of 11.3 per cent with double digit growth from China and Hong Kong (44.3%) and South Korea (26.1%).

European arrivals especially from the United Kingdom and Ireland (growth of 39.9%) were also making a comeback to Sabah, indicating confidence in long-haul travelling and strong focus on nature-based tourism, Sabah’s stronghold in the industry.

Domestic tourism remained as the main contributor making 67% of the total arrivals or 1.933 million to Sabah in 2012.

However, this was a decrease of 3.2% compared to 2011 mainly due to a reduction in total domestic seat capacity from both Sarawak and the peninsula.

“For the first time in fourteen years domestic arrivals were affected due to less competitive airfares offered to the domestic outbound market as well as opening of new routes by low cost carriers to other regional destination. This year we continue to keep our partners, the airlines, close to support our destination as 96% of our arrivals come by air,” said Masidi.

“Sabah’s tourism industry will have a roaring start in 2013. We will benefit from Malaysia Airlines’ reinstatement of direct international routes to Sabah and MASWings’ focus on BIMP EAGA region.

“AirAsia’s commitment in increasing domestic flight frequencies and very soon the introduction of a new airline, MALINDO, can strengthen our industry and create a more competitive landscape that will benefit the domestic market.

“Looking ahead, we are targeting to increase arrivals from 3% to 4.3% or from 2.96 million to 3 million arrivals,” Masidi reiterated.

MERSING: Christopher Goiron, a student from the Mersing Industrial Training Institute, here, recently emerged the winner of the pre-qualifying round of the Malaysian Skills Competition 2013 in the southern zone automobile category.

MERSING: Christopher Goiron, a student from the Mersing Industrial Training Institute, here, recently emerged the winner of the pre-qualifying round of the Malaysian Skills Competition 2013 in the southern zone automobile category.

Goiron, 21, beat 12 other contestants to win the first prize. The second and third places went to Muhamad Fitri Ahmad Zamri from the Pasir Gudang Industrial Training Institute and Muhamad Reduan Nasri from the Kuala Lumpur Industrial Training Institute, respectively.

Goiron, from Keningau, Sabah, said he was "very happy" to have won.

"My trainer, Zakariah Saaban, helped me a lot. I would not have won if not for his guidance. Besides my trainer, my family and friends were also highly supportive," he said.

Mersing Industrial Training Institute director Sarman Rawang said the winner would be competing in the second qualifying round of the competition.

Sarman added that the three-day competition involved students from industrial training institutes from Pasir Gudang, Mersing and Kuala Lumpur, and four from the Malacca Advance Technology Training Centre.

"Each contestant was given three hours to assemble a car engine and they were judged by a panel of experts in the field," he said.

"We found all the contestants to be competent, but there could only be one winner."

Meanwhile, Human Resource Department deputy director Syed Mohamad Noor Syed Mat Ali said in his closing speech that the competitors had shown a keen interest in the automotive industry.

"Our department is committed towards producing skilled and competitive people. One of the ways to do this is through such competitions," he said.

1MALAYSIA SONG: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman, Umno and Barisan Nasional component party leaders as well as villagers singing the
1Malaysia song after launching the Yayasan Sabah roadshow for West Coast South Division at the Putatan multipurpose hall yesterday. Musa also
performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Putatan new multi-purpose hall and witnessed several contributions for the Lahad Datu Warriors Fund.

PUTATAN: The bustling town of Putatan which was upgraded to a full district over a year ago, will continue to see rapid development in the coming years, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

Strategically located right next to and serving as the gateway the City, Musa said the district needed to grow parallel with Kota Kinabalu.

“Putatan is an important district because of its location just next to the state capital. The development here should be in tandem with that in the City,” he said when launching the Yayasan Sabah roadshow for West Coast South division hosted by Putatan at the Pasir Putih multi-purpose hall yesterday.

“A lot of development has been brought to Putatan under the Barisan Nasional (BN). This included elevating Putatan from a sub-district into a district with its own municipality.

“In line with this new status, the road network in the district will continue to be improved, with the federal government allocating RM140 million for this purpose,” he said.

Expressing gratitude to the federal government leadership for its continuous commitment towards Sabah’s development, he said various other allocations had been given under the Putatan constituency.

As such, he called on the people in the area to make the right decision comes the 13th General Election, to ensure there will be a continuation of the development efforts being implemented for the district.

At the event, Musa approved an unspecified allocation for installing an air conditioning system at the multi-purpose Hall and witnessed several contributions for the Lahad Datu Warriors Fund.

He also performed the groundbreaking ceremony for another multi-purpose hall to be built near the existing one.

Touching on Yayasan Sabah’s future strategic plan, he said three core programmes had been identified for implementation starting this year until 2023.

Back to normal: Foreign tourists walking around the Jesselton Point
ferry terminal to travel to islands in Sabah.

PETALING JAYA: Tourism in Sabah which had taken a hard hit from the Lahad Datu conflict is beginning to recover, according to industry players who say tourists are coming back.

Sabah Hotel sales and marketing director Anthony Kong said cancellations were fewer compared to early March, and groups who had postponed trips were reinstating their bookings.

“In order to portray the actual situation here, we launched a series of YouTube videos where our guests provide testimonies, and we uploaded them for circulation,” he said.

One of the videos featured four children speaking of their favourite food and their experience there as they swam in the hotel pool.

Another featured a delighted couple describing their “relaxing family holiday”, and their Sandakan tour.

Kong added that there had been several visitors who chose Sabah despite travel advisories warning them against it.

Although Sandakan is over 230km away from Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu, a number of tourists had postponed or cancelled their holiday plans during the height of the conflict.

Sabah Hotel had recorded over RM120,000 in losses from cancellation of room and event reservations in March alone.

Meanwhile, tour operators were busy promoting the state's various places of attraction, which include the Kinabalu National Park, Layang-Layang island, Lok Kawi Wildlife Park and diving spots like Sipadan and Mabul islands.

Popular Express Travel Sdn Bhd Operations Manager Christopher Chung said there had been a noticeable drop in tourist numbers but they had since increased and were now close to the monthly average number of Sabah tours they arranged.

“When the conflict was at its peak, a group of international school students had diverted their destination from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching as their parents objected to the tour,” he said.

The Sabah Tourism Board, in its latest travel advisory, confirmed all tourism activities in the state were operating as usual, including those on the east coast.